


with somebody who loves me

by saddendays



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Fluff, M/M, Royalty, the comeback concept hasnt even actually dropped but im here raising my hopes, the writer is a clown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 14:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21255074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saddendays/pseuds/saddendays
Summary: Junmyeon finds out one morning that he's going to marry the crowned prince, his childhood best friend.





	with somebody who loves me

**Author's Note:**

> if the comeback isn't actually a royalty concept it's ok to clown me

"You're going to marry Kim Minseok," his mother says, not looking up from the letter she was reading, right as Junmyeon was eating his morning salad.

Junmyeon almost drops his fork, but ends up politely setting out down before reacting.

"I can't bear children," was the first argument that came out of his mouth. He didn't want to get married to his childhood playmate, out of everyone else.

His mother shrugs slightly. "I'm not very sure about this arrangement, either."

She hands him over the letter and its envelope, the insignia of the royal family stamped right on the envelope's flap, essentially a gigantic sign saying that whatever the contents of the letter are, it's legit.

_Greetings, my lovely cousin._

_Please inform your firstborn son, Kim Junmyeon, that he will be married to Kim Minseok by the end of autumn this year. He and his father must come by the palace by afternoon to discuss preparations for the wedding. _

_Sincerely, King Siwon._

Short and sweet. Junmyeon wants to rip the paper to shreds.

He knew, ever since he was a child, that an arranged marriage is more or less inevitable in his place in society. He was also aware of cousins marrying each other, though he never really expected that he would end up marrying his own. Especially since his cousin was the crowned prince himself.

Junmyeon sets the letter on the table, refusing to acknowledge it.

"You know, you have to be there in a few hours," his mother reminds him. "Since your father's on a business trip, I'll come instead."

Junmyeon keeps his lips in a straight line and looks at his mother in childish rebellion.

She raises her eyebrow and Junmyeon ends up going back to his room to dress up.

~

The trip on the way to the palace was agonizing. It wasn’t really because of the summer heat, nor was it because he was sweating buckets under his “summer attire” which had way too many layers than necessary—though they almost definitely contributed. It was mostly because of the sheer horror of the announcement this morning that kept him on edge the entire ride.

Being related to the royal family, they were personally greeted by the king and his son themselves as they exit the carriage.

“Sooyeon,” Siwon greets, coming closer to hug his cousin as she exits the carriage, “I didn’t expect you here.”

“My husband’s off on a trip,” she says, “and your announcement was so sudden, I wasn’t able to tell you.”

“I was quite excited about it, I wanted to have Junmyeon visit as soon as possible.”

Junmyeon takes in a deep breath and exits the carriage, purposely trying to avoid of the gaze of the crowned prince.

“Junmyeon.” His heart races, though he tries not to show it.

Footsteps against the solid ground, and there’s Kim Minseok right in front of him.

Junmyeon slowly turns his head towards his cousin, their eyes meeting.

He hasn’t seen Minseok up close in a while, the last time they properly spoke to each other was for his coming of age birthday a little over two years ago. Even then, it was just some friendly banter over how horrid Byun Baekhyun’s ballroom dancing is. His cheeks have grown sharper, and his shoulders seem broader. He definitely got more buff over the years, and Junmyeon’s hesitant to admit that it’s a _little _attractive.

“How are you?” Minseok asks. “I hope the invitation wasn’t too sudden.”

“It was fine,” his voice sounded a bit more venomous than intended, “we didn’t really have plans today, anyway.”

Minseok smiles despite his tone, and—

Oh no, he’s cute.

~

The four of them plan the wedding in the family garden, sitting at a circular table by the garden. Some maids bring them some tea and biscuits.

“My son absolutely adores gold and violet,” Sooyeon says. “Though, they’re expensive colors, aren’t they?”

“It’s a royal wedding, I believe we should go above and beyond,” the king responds before chuckling. He takes a sip of his tea before turning to the two boys, who were silent as the adults chattered on and on about the arrangements. “What do you two think?”

A pause.

“Um,” Junmyeon speaks up for the both of them, “shouldn’t Minseok’s favourite color also be in the arrangements? Blue?”

Minseok turns to Junmyeon in surprise. “You still remember my favorite color?”

Junmyeon’s eyes widen.

“I mean, uh,” he feels his cheeks redden, “girls and boys lining up to marry you usually wear blue, so I kind of assumed…”

He forgot that the last time Minseok mentioned that blue was his favorite color was when they were both still kids, playing in this very same garden.

Minseok blinks, before chuckling, unsure of what to say. “Ah, they do, don’t they?”

“What about blue and violet with gold trim?” Sooyeon says, a smile obvious in her voice. “That would look elegant.”

There was a smile on Minseok’s face as he agreed.

~

For the rest of the day, Junmyeon had one lingering question in his mind, which was why the crowned prince was marrying a _boy _above all else. Junmyeon couldn’t give Minseok a heir, and there’s no political benefit in this—it would be understandable if Junmyeon was some prince of a rivalling kingdom, but as far as he knows, they’re really just cousins.

There’s never an opportunity to ask his uncle about it, the man too busy talking about wedding preparations as they walk around the palace, and he thinks that asking Minseok would make it sound like he doesn’t want to marry him. Well, he doesn’t, but he doesn’t want Minseok to know that.

The king invites them for an impromptu overnight at the palace, and his mother doesn’t refuse.

“The cake here tastes amazing,” she says as her only justification.

Clothes were already prepared for the two of them, and they were placed in two separate guest rooms. Just before that, they had dinner, which was mostly filled with more talks about the wedding and the two fiances attempting to start a topic with one another before catching their tongues and keeping quiet for the rest of the meal.

At the end of the day, he drops down onto the bed, exhausted. He isn’t really sure why, they really just walked around the palace for some time while discussing, and he’s sure he has more stamina than that. He guesses it’s because of the awkward atmosphere between him and his cousin, weighing down on him like it was trying to pull him into the depths of the earth. Then again, that would be a much better place than being in the same room as Minseok.

He doesn’t dislike Minseok—of course not. They were childhood playmates, and even though they haven’t spoken much in the recent years, he never gained any sort of negative opinion of the elder. It was just strange, suddenly realizing that the boy he played with and thought of as family was in fact his future spouse. If he hadn’t known that he was going to marry him this year, he probably wouldn’t have been this awkward, stumbling mess he was the entire day.

Though, Minseok wouldn’t be a bad husband, would he?

There was a few soft knocks on the door, gentle in case he was sleeping.

Junmyeon sits up, stretches. “Coming,” he says, before standing up and walking towards the door.

He opens it and finds Minseok, jet black hair damp, holding a candle. He has a small smile on his face. Junmyeon looks down and notices that they’re wearing the same pyjama set—so that’s why it seems so big on him.

Minseok also notices this.

“Oh, they let you borrow my…” He blushes suddenly, for some reason. Though, he immediately purses his lips and shakes it off.

“Um,” he looks back up and their eyes meet again, “are you alright?”

“I guess so, why?” Junmyeon asks, confused at the sudden question. He steps aside and gestures for the elder to enter the room. Minseok thanks him quietly before entering, and Junmyeon closes and locks the door again.

“The wedding was quite out of no where, wasn’t it?” His tone was more serious, looking right at Junmyeon again, though this time his eyes were half lidded, questioning. “You’re probably uncomfortable marrying your own cousin, am I correct?”

Junmyeon sputters, wondering if he had been that obvious the entire day, or if it was Minseok’s own intelligence that helped him figure it out. He’s always been so keen.

He can’t lie.

“This was really sudden,” he confesses, looking down in half-shame. “You were always just Minseok to me, but now you’re my fiance. It’s nothing against you, really.”

Minseok sighs. “I understand. I’m not really sure why this happened, either.”

Junmyeon looks up, realizing that the both of them were in the dark about the situation. Minseok was just as confused, just as tense as him.

“I’m sorry if I made things seem uncomfortable,” Junmyeon says.

“I probably contributed,” Minseok laughs a little, and Junmyeon smiles lightly in response. “I’m sorry as well.”

There was a moment of silence, before Minseok moves in to hug him.

His embrace was warm, and Junmyeon hugs him back. It was almost like they were kids again, when they would fight and make up after crying over it.

They would hug just like this.

**Author's Note:**

> will i ever give this a proper ending tune in to find out


End file.
